Ireland's Eye: What's going on in the old sod

A Co. Limerick father of four has told Kilmallock Court that he can't afford to pay the €200 per month sought by ACC Bank. The court heard that the Hospital man owes the bank €12,000, and ACC made an application for an installment order for €200 per month.

But the man told the court that he could not afford this sum at present as most of his wages went on heating the house and on basics for his young children.

The court heard that he is a married man with four children aged four, five, six and seven. He is in full time employment and the family has a net income of €680 per week.

The man's solicitor, Audrey Browne, asked him what his main outgoings were.

"We live in a very old house in Hospital. It's a cottage over a 100 years old and has no central heating," he said.

The majority of their money is spent on coal and gas, "basic stuff for the kids" and insurance for their car.

They had two cars, but one was repossessed because they couldn't afford the payments.

The court heard that the mortgage on their house was in arrears, but they were in talks with their bank about getting it extended. Browne said her client spent no money on luxuries.

"They don't go out. They have four very young children and everything they do is for their children. They literally have no money," said Browne.

Judge Aeneas McCarthy asked the man how much he could afford.

"Fifty a month, and in time when we get on top of things we can reassess the situation," he replied.

McCarthy accepted this offer.
- Limerick Leader

Fake fire costs

Malicious pranksters who make hoax calls to the fire service in Meath are costing the county council in excess of €40,000 a year.

As the fire service approaches its busiest time of the year at Halloween, firefighters and council officials have warned that those who make malicious calls could be putting lives in danger and could face serious penalties as all calls are recorded and are traceable.

Meath Fire & Rescue Service’s senior assistant fire officer Padraig O Longaigh said that, every year, 20% of calls to the service are false alarms, although most of those are from well-intentioned members of the public who believe a genuine emergency exists.

However, there is also a problem with malicious calls being made to the service, and there were 40 such hoax calls last year.

There have also been two cases where firefighters were injured when attacked when they answered calls to “deliberately engineered” fires.
“Thankfully, incidents where violence is used against firemen is rare, but the malicious calls are very frustrating and are a huge waste of resources,” he said.

He warned those involved in making hoax calls that all cases will be investigated, the calls are recorded and are traceable.

“The culprits will face heavy fines and the substantial fee for calling out the service,” he said.

O Longaigh appealed to those responsible to stop and to think of the people they are putting at risk. “They may have called us out for nothing, while there is a serious crash somewhere, where people need our help,” he added.

He said that, at Halloween, station officers will travel ahead of fire crews to check that calls are genuine, but he warned those making the hoax calls to think again.

Meath County Council director of service, Brendan McGrath, pointed out that it costs up to €1,000 a time to roll out a fire tender, money that could be used for other services.
-Meath Chronicle

Indian summer

People all across Northern Ireland have been making the most of the glorious autumn sunshine.

Anyone who could took the opportunity to get out in the fresh air and feel the sun on their skin on Monday, while bookworms and dog walkers made the most of the mild weather in Ulster's parks and green spaces.

Women taking part in the Belfast Telegraph Runner event at Stormont over the weekend remarked how lucky they had been to get such dry and bright weather for the race.

Gemma Plum, a forecaster with Meteogroup, said the maximum weekend temperature of 21 Celsius was above average for this time of year, but things are now set to fall in line with more typical October weather.

“The week ahead looks to be quite dry with some cloud and just a few spots of rain.

“Today (Tuesday) there will be a maximum temperature of 17 Celsius, but as the week progresses this will drop down to about 14C.”
Unfortunately, the gorgeous autumn weather isn’t set to last, as the rain is set to make an unwelcome return next week.